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Media Library Not Loading After WordPress Update?

The day has finally arrived: you’ve updated your WordPress core, theme, or a critical plugin to its latest version. You log into your dashboard, ready to create new content, but when you click on Media > Library, you are met with a blank screen, an endless spinning wheel, or a series of broken image icons. An update that was supposed to make your site better has instead broken a core function. This is a common and frustrating problem. The good news is that if your media library not loading after a WordPress update, the issue is almost always fixable. This guide will provide a step-by-step troubleshooting process to get your images back where they belong.

A screenshot of a blank WordPress media library not loading.

Understanding the Problem

When your WordPress Media Library stops loading after an update, it’s a sign of a deeper conflict. The updated code, whether from WordPress itself or a third-party component, is likely clashing with something else on your site. The most common culprits include:

  • Caching: Your browser or a caching plugin is serving an outdated version of the media library interface.
  • Plugin or Theme Conflicts: The new code is incompatible with another plugin or your active theme, causing a JavaScript or PHP error.
  • Resource Limits: The updated script requires more memory or processing power than your server is currently configured to provide.

By following the steps below, you can methodically pinpoint the exact cause of the problem and fix it.

Step-by-Step Troubleshooting

1. Clear Your Caches (The Easiest Fix)

This is the most common reason for a non-loading media library and should always be your first step. Outdated cache files can cause all sorts of display issues.

  • Browser Cache: Perform a hard refresh on the page by pressing Ctrl + F5 (on Windows) or Cmd + Shift + R (on Mac). If that doesn’t work, clear your browser’s entire cache.
  • Caching Plugins: If you use a plugin like WP Rocket or LiteSpeed Cache, navigate to its settings and use the “Purge All Cache” option.
  • CDN Cache: If you use a CDN like Cloudflare, log into your account and purge the cache for your domain.

2. Check for Plugin and Theme Conflicts

This is the most likely cause if clearing your cache doesn’t work. A recently updated plugin or theme can clash with other elements on your site.

  • Deactivate All Plugins: Deactivate all your plugins from Plugins > Installed Plugins. Then, check if your media library loads. If it does, reactivate your plugins one by one, checking the media library after each activation. The moment the library breaks, you’ve found the culprit.
  • Switch to a Default Theme: If the problem persists with all plugins deactivated, switch your theme to a default WordPress theme like Twenty Twenty-Five. If the media library now loads, the issue lies with your original theme.

Fix Your Media Library Not Loading: The Technical Stuff

If the basic steps don’t solve the problem, we need to look at your server’s configuration and a few other technical details.

3. Increase Your PHP Memory Limit

WordPress, themes, and plugins require a certain amount of memory to run. An update may increase this requirement, causing a memory exhaustion error.

  • Access your site’s files via an FTP client like FileZilla or your hosting provider’s file manager.
  • Find the wp-config.php file in your site’s root directory.
  • Add the following line of code just above the “That’s all, stop editing!” line:define( ‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ‘256M’ );
  • Save the file and upload it back to your server. This increases the amount of memory available to WordPress.

4. Check File Permissions

Incorrect file permissions can prevent WordPress from reading or writing files, which can cause the media library to fail.

  • Via FTP, navigate to your wp-content folder.
  • Ensure that the uploads folder and its subfolders have permissions set to 755.
  • All individual image files inside these folders should have permissions set to 644.

5. Check for JavaScript Errors

The media library relies heavily on JavaScript for its functionality. An error in a plugin or theme’s script can prevent the whole thing from loading.

  • Open your browser’s developer console by right-clicking on the page and selecting “Inspect” (or pressing F12).
  • Go to the “Console” tab and look for any red error messages.
  • If you see an error, it might point to a specific file, which can help you identify the problematic plugin or theme.

Conclusion

A WordPress update should improve your site, not break it. A media library not loading is a frustrating issue, but by following a systematic troubleshooting process, you can easily identify and fix the problem. Start with the easy fixes like clearing your cache and checking for conflicts. If those don’t work, move on to the more technical solutions like increasing your memory limit or checking file permissions.

If you’ve gone through all these steps and the problem persists, it may be a database issue, such as a missing or corrupted table. In such cases, a professional tool can provide a quick and easy solution. Plugins with media recovery features can fix these kinds of database-level problems with a single click, saving you from complex manual work.